Looking at the Premier League Swedes

The English Premier League is really becoming more and more an international league as players from all over the world have begun to make their mark in the league and that includes Swedish footballers. There are several players who currently play in the league and have made their mark.

Taylor Green takes a quick look at a few of these players.

Alexander Kacaniklic spent most of his youth career with Liverpool and Fulham of the EPL before finally being brought up to the main club in March of 2012. He saw action as a substitute on March 30th 2012 and made enough of an impression to get his first start against Bolton in April. His performances during his spring run with the team prompted them to sign him to a two year deal over the summer and so far this season the midfielder has appeared in 19 games scoring three goals.

John Guidetti is an up and coming striker for Manchester City. He was impressive on the squad’s U-18 team, scoring an impressive 13 goals in as many games. He was then moved up to the main team during the 2010-2011 season but only appeared for one game before being loaned to Burnley. During the 2011-12 season, Man City loaned him to Feyenoord and Guidetti came into his own scoring 20 goals in 23 games with 8 assists for the club and helping the team to secure a place in the qualification rounds of the 2012-13 Champions League. Manchester City was so impressed with Guidetti’s performance that they signed him to a 3 year deal that will keep him with the squad until 2015. Hopefully his success at Feyenoord will translate into future EPL success.

West Bromwich Albion has two Swedes playing for them. Markus Rosenberg is perhaps most well known for his time with Werder Bremen where he appeared in 123 games from 2007-2012 and scored 40 goals. Back in August, West Brom signed Rosenberg to a three-year contract with the squad. Since joining the squad he has played in 15 games and has had 8 shots.

Jonas Olsson has been with West Brom since 2008 and during that time the defender has appeared in 154 games with 9 goals. In addition to his play on the field, Olsson has worked with Viasat as a player analyst to give a player’s perspective what happens during EPL Matches.

As EPL team sponsorship deals continue to become more lucrative, teams are on the lookout for ways to improve their club in order to compete for trophies. Part of this means looking outside of England for star talent. Hopefully the success of the players above will prompt clubs to look to Sweden for more top shelf talent and more Swedish footballers will get a chance to play in the Premier League.